Geopolitics of Toponymic Inscription in Taiwan: Toponymic Hegemony, Politicking and Resistance

ABSTRACT

The recent shift in the study of toponyms has drawn substantial attention from political geographers. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how toponymic inscription is a territorial project that involves the contesting of different naming regimes and political subjects. Through an examination of the history of toponymic inscription in Taiwan, it is first argued that different naming regimes have attempted to inscribe their political subjectivities onto the island with a view to asserting their spatial domination. Second, it is proposed that the connection between regime change and toponymic renaming is contingent, and has affected the ability of the new naming regime to draw temporal boundaries. Finally, it is contended that marginalised groups have resorted to toponymic struggle to reclaim the ‘lost’ sovereignty from the ruling regime. This study provides an overview of and insights into the different episodes of toponymic hegemony, politicking and resistance that have taken place in Taiwan.

KEYWORDS:

• Colonialism
• regime change
• Taiwan
• territory
• toponymic inscription

Acknowledgment

The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to two anonymous reviewers and the editor Professor Colin Flint for their extensive comments. Their critical comments have definitely sharpened the arguments developed in this paper. Gratitude is also expressed to Professor CK Lum for his advice on writing up this article and to Dickson PK Lo, Matthew WF Ng and Disney DW Leung for their research assistance. Acknowledgement is made to Dr Vic YW Li, Justin Lau and Ryan CY Au.

Notes

1. For an overview of the early period of colonisation, see Andrade (2008).

2. I incorporate and appreciate the remark made by an anonymous reviewer on this issue.

3. Indeed, in the context of Taiwan, toponymic encyclopaedias, especially those published during the authoritarian period, serve important educational purposes. One particular series that deserves attention is The Historical Evolution of Taiwan’s Old Toponyms by Hong Minlin. The series was published by the Taiwanese Government in 1984 and contains very detailed records of the origins of the names that appeared in Taiwan at different historical junctures. See Hong (1984). In a sense, such series can be seen as a pedagogical tool for binding both the rulers and the ruled into the same discursive field.

4. The 28 February incident remains an issue of contention amongst Taiwanese even today. On 27 February, several officers from the Monopoly Bureau arrested a woman who sold contraband cigarettes illegally at the Tianma Tea House. Violence broke out when an agent fired into the crowd. The next day, disgruntled Taiwanese who were disillusioned by the problems of inflation, unemployment and cultural conflict began to join protests and riots in different urban centres across the island. Mainlanders were attacked in a series of violent events. In a few days, Taiwan was largely controlled by the Taiwanese civilians and prominent Taiwanese came together and formed the February 28 Incident Settlement committee. On 6 March, the Settlement committee drafted a set of demands known as the Thirty-two demands. On 8 March, the military force from the mainland arrived in Taiwan and launched indiscriminate killings. After the reassertion of control, the Nationalist Government began to arrest and purge prominent Taiwanese. The incident was seen by analysts to be a watershed in the contemporary history of Taiwan when the hope for self-government by the Taiwanese was effectively dashed. Philips (2007, 292–6).

5. Liberal Times Net (2007). The name of the place remains unchanged at the time of writing. Civil Affairs Office of Fuxing District (n.d.).

6. The original map is made available under a Creative Commons licence Attribution 3.0 Taiwan.

7. In a sense, the ‘accommodative’ attitude had to do with the ‘liberal’ turn of colonial administration as a result of the political changes in the Japanese homeland, especially the erosion of the political leverage of the genrŏ and the military/ See Peattie (1989).

8. According to Article 1 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, indigenous peoples, ‘refer to the traditional peoples who have inhibited in Taiwan and are subject to the state’s jurisdiction, including Amis tribe, Atayal tribe, Paiwan tribe, Bunun tribe, Puyuma tribe, Rukai tribe, Tsou tribe, Saisiyat tribe, Yami tribe, Tsao tribe, Kavalan tribe, Taroko tribe and any other tribes who regard themselves as indigenous peoples and obtain the approval of the central indigenous authority upon application’. Laws and Regulations Database of the Republic of China (n.d.).

9. Taiwan Indigenous TV (2012b); ‘Return Our Land’ was a social movement that took place during the late 1980s and the early 90s when the aboriginal community asserted their ‘natural sovereignty’ and demanded that the government ‘return’ their indigenous land rights.

10. Tang Yishen was an aboriginal youth executed in 1987 at the age of nineteen for killing his employer and his family. The event was considered to be important as it reflected the cultural rift between the aboriginal community and the Chinese (Han) community. Cao (2014). See also Taiwan Indigenous TV (2012c).